And the whining continues…

Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s interview by his party’s MP Sanjay Raut was quite a ‘homely and extensive’ one where he continued to whine. It was nothing but his yet another attempt at garnering sympathy for having been betrayed by his people. For years now, people are familiar with his language which is a testimony of how desperate and frustrated he is.

Uddhav Thackeray had betrayed the Bharatiya Janata Party for his desire for power and joined hands with Congress and Sharad Pawar after the 2019 Assembly elections. And when he talks like this, he kind of agrees to how his tactics went wrong. For a person to emerge as a true politician, s/he must be able to withstand criticism with courage and ingenuity, especially after failed tactics. But since Uddhav Thackeray lacks this ability, he keeps on blabbering his insecurity. This reminds me of dramatis personae like Duryodhana, Dushashasana, Dhritarashtra and Shakunimama from the epic Mahabharata. Uddhav Thackeray exhibits traits of each one of them and when he whines, he only shows how he has been unable to bear the retribution of destiny.

In Mahabharata, Kauravas had treacherously usurped the rightful kingdom of Pandavas. Duryodhana had the audacity to openly admit in the august kingdom that Pandavas will not get even enough land that will fit on the tip of a needle. Likewise, to quench his thirst for power and to bag the chief ministerial position, Uddhav Thackeray had betrayed the Bharatiya Janata Party. But he did not have the guts to openly admit it and hence for three-and-a-half years he only kept repeating how senior BJP leaders had

failed to keep their word whereas only he had been morally correct. And the fact is nobody has given him the word ,he is telling lies since years.

Against this backdrop, I am reminded of Shiv Sena supremo revered Balasaheb Thackeray and his intense nationalism. Balasaheb, in his unique style, used to always make a dig at Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s entry in politics. He was the one to pose a direct question to the people of this country – ‘Do you want Ram Rajya or Rome Rajya?’ It was owing to her nationality issue that Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s entry in politics was opposed. In fact, senior leader Sharad Pawar was also amongst those to oppose Soniaji on the same issue. Revered Balasaheb, not even for a moment till he breathed his last, changed his stance towards Soniaji but Sharad Pawar, in his usual style, altered his stance in her favour. Uddhavji, despite being Balasaheb’s son, completely surrendered his weapons of self-respect and nationalism in front of Soniaji.

People will remember how in 1988, a Shiv Sena candidate had lost the Thane Mayoral election due to rigging of a vote. At that time, revered Balasaheb was deeply hurt. He asked all his corporators to resign and four years later, they bounced back with majority. This was Balasaheb’s style of politics. Uddhav Thackeray, on the other hand, left no stone unturned to become the chief minister. People aren’t naïve to not have noticed this difference in ideologies in both, Balasaheb and Uddhav Thackeray.

 

Here I am reminded of Swami Swaroopananda’s verse: Karm taise phal labhate keval | Aanikante bol lavu naye || Peroniya saali gavhache te peek | Ghyavaya ni:shank dhavu naye || Uttarasarkhe yete pratyuttar | Karava vichar aapanashi || It means ‘we get fruits according to the actions we do; others must not be blamed for it. If we have sown rice, we must not expect wheat to grow out of it; we get the same response as we give; think about it’. Swamiji’s verse aptly suits Uddhav Thackeray who first betrayed the Bharatiya Janata Party and later kept whining about things going against him.

Balasaheb always played brave and straight and did not play misty for anyone.But words spoken by Uddhav Thackeray show how Balasaheb’s strong ideologies are not his cup of tea. From 1989 till 2013, there had been many differences on seat allocation and other political issues between Balasaheb and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Balasaheb had also openly criticized it in his style. But he always made sure that the alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena remained intact. Unfortunately, Uddhavrao never bothered to draw lessons from Balasaheb’s strategies. And hence, these mathematical theorems in politics always remained beyond his intellectual realm. I feel his close associates are to be blamed as they never let him experience the bitter taste of politics. I guess that is why Maharashtra got its own ‘Sheikh Chilli’.

Brian Tracy, a Canadian-American author, in one of his writings, described an ideal leader – ‘Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position’. Revered Balasaheb is the embodiment of Tracy’s definition. Balasaheb built his party organization with abled leaders like Sudhir Joshi, Pramod Navalkar, Dattaji Nalawade and Vamanrao Mahadik who possessed both fighting and organizational skills. Balasaheb worked to build the party right from the shakha level. Since he knew the pulse of Marathi Manoos, he built Shiv Sena through the Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti.

In politics, two plus two is never four and Balasaheb never made a hue and cry about it. But Uddhav Thackeray lacks the intent to initiate, the courage to undertake and the hard work to build the party organization which resulted in the decline of Shiv Sena as a party organization since 1999. Although Balasaheb took pride his party’s might, he was always aware of its limitations. But Uddhavrao never realized it and hence he continues to blabber his whine which I don’t think will change, at least in the near future.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 31 July 2023)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson